Assignment: Ethics Nursing Essay
Assignment Ethics Nursing Essay
When a pregnant lady is brain dead, she cannot acknowledge the fetus. Therefore, the mother lacks the moral responsibility to keep the fetus alive (Akhyari, Lichtenberg & Boeken, 2019; Paternoster et al., 2017; Staff & Nash, 2017). Being uninsured and lacking an advance directive that states that the mother intends to be kept alive to save the unborn child, prolonging life is considered unethical. In the case of a 26-year-old woman who is 20 weeks pregnant, ethical and legal considerations are vital.
The Hendricks/Smith Model posits that one needs to undertake various processes before making a decision. The very first undertaking would be to gather data or conduct an assessment on the patient (Fero, Herrick, 7 Hu, 2011). There are several relevant data concerning the patient such as lack of insurance, the position of the mother, the position of the fetus and the status of the mother. The case reveals that the patient is brain dead. Secondly, the model stipulates that one needs to make a diagnosis of the patient, in which case the patient is brain dead. Third, planning for the various outcomes need to occur. In the present case, there are two options: supporting the mother’s position which is to keep the lady alive until a Cesarean delivery is conducted or supporting the husband who wants it to be terminated in order for his wife to be relieved. Following the planning process, Hendricks/Smith model states that the case manager must now make a decision. According to Nishimura et al. (2016), the older the baby when its mother is confirmed brain-dead, the higher its chances of survival. In the present case, and given the information about the husband’s lack of support for the pregnancy, it would be prudent for the case manager to prioritize the life of the fetus by supporting the mother’s position. Therefore, the mother will be kept on the life support machine until such a time that the Cesarean delivery option will be implemented. Thereafter, the state of the woman will be evaluated to determine if she will continue using the life support or she will be terminated.
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I agree with the analysis of my peers because based on the Herrick/Smith model, a baby born at 20 weeks will have a 20 to 30 percent
survival chances and a 40 percent chance of seriously being disabled (Pikto-Pietkiewicz et al., 2019). The older the baby, the less the risk of severe disability. In the scenario, the best ethical outcome would be to maintain the pregnancy until such as time that a Cesarean is conducted. The absence of an advance directive from the pregnant woman makes this the best ethical decision. Adopting the African-American culture for the scenario does not alter the chosen option. In the African-American population, terminating the woman’s life would be tantamount to killing, which is not supported by the culture.
Read the following case:
You are the nurse manager in an adult ICU. A 26-year-old female is admitted post CVA. She is 20 weeks pregnant. The patient has been declared brain-dead but remains on life support. She is uninsured. The patient’s parents insist their daughter be kept alive to increase the chances their grandchild will survive when delivered. The patient’s husband is insisting life-support be terminated as he states his wife had made it clear she would not want to be kept alive on life support. There are no advance directives. The husband did not want the pregnancy and had encouraged his wife to have an abortion, which she was on her way to have when she had the life-threatening stroke.
Analyze the case according to the Herrick/Smith model (Table 14-4). When reviewing your peers’ posts, do you agree or disagree with their analysis and why? In your opinion, what gives the best ethical outcome in this scenario? Choose a different culture for this couple. Does it change your initial analysis?
The\” Hedrick/Smith \”
model should be used for this.